


In Their Eyes

by abovetherest (mckrose40)



Series: Young Blood [2]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Multi, One Shot Collection, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-16 07:59:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11824428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mckrose40/pseuds/abovetherest
Summary: A series of one-shots that occur during the events of Young Blood from various character POVs.





	In Their Eyes

Catelyn Stark was an observant woman. She knew that Bran continued to climb the walls of the keep even though she had forbidden him from doing so many, many moons ago. She knew that Arya was hiding from Septa Mordane and her needlework lessons. She knew that Sansa looked about the halls of Winterfell and the courtyard outside with well-hidden contempt as she longed for the vibrant castles of the south. She knew that the looks passing between her son and the Mallister girl, her and Ned’s young ward, were anything but platonic.

It didn’t take long for Catelyn to hear the whispers that her son and Laena were closer than was proper for two (unwed) children of their birth. At first, she dismissed the rumors as just that; rumors. However, it didn’t take long for Catelyn to see herself and Ned in her son and her ward. The way they smiled at each other, the way that they made each other laugh; it was all reminiscent of herself and Ned as they first began to feel the embers of their love grow from hesitant to all consuming. It was after this revelation that Catelyn went to Ned.

“We should write to Lord Jason immediately and make the match,” she had urged, but Ned was reluctant to do so. Laena had just gotten out of an engagement to another Northern lord’s son – Asher Forrester, second born son of Gregor Forrester – and Ned saw no reason to rush the girl into another engagement.

“There’s no reason to hurry. When the time is right, we’ll ask Lord Jason for permission to wed his daughter to Robb. For now, we’ll be vigilant and make sure they are aware of the consequences that their actions can result in,” he had simply told her.

“Robb is nearly six-and-ten, Ned. He's of a similar age that you were when we were wed all those years ago.”

“We’ll make the match when the time is right, Cat,” he assured her before pulling her into his arms and his bed.

He talked to Robb within the next day, though Catelyn saw no change in her son’s behavior when it came to the Riverlands girl that he had so clearly fallen in love with. She watched them as they joked with one another, as they embraced one another, and as they kissed one another. They never suspected that she had seen, but she had watched them for nearly two years as they gradually fell more and more in love with one another.

Though she felt happiness for her son, there was a lingering fear in the back of her mind that one day, Robb would come to her and admit that he had gotten a child on Laena. While she longed for grandchildren – and what beautiful grandchildren they would be with Robb’s eyes and Laena’s dark hair! – she would not dare to insult one of her oldest friends by having her son get a child on his daughter while they were unwed.

She had made a promise to herself that she would press Ned further to ask Lord Jason for Robb and Laena to be red, but before she could make good on that promise, the King and his family arrived.

She hadn’t been completely sure of what King Robert had said to her Ned in the crypts, but when Ned ascended from the dark depths that housed the long dead Kings of Winter, his expression was sullen and defeated.

“I’m sorry, Cat,” Ned had said when he revealed the agreement that had been made with the King. “I should have listened to you and wed Robb and Laena moons ago.” Ned truly seemed regretful that Laena Mallister wouldn’t be the next Lady of Winterfell, and Catelyn’s regret echoed his own.

“I should have pushed harder, Ned. Do not blame yourself,” she soothed. “I just worry that our son will never truly be happy in marriage to Myrcella Baratheon.”

“Perhaps in time he’ll grow to love her, just as you grew to love me.” Catelyn smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes. She could only hope that were the case.

She continued to hold onto that hope throughout dinner, though that hope began to wane when she saw the lack of emotion on her son’s face and the red rimming Laena’s eyes as she tried her hardest not to look across the table at Robb and the princess. Her hope had diminished completely as she watched Laena leave the dining hall abruptly and watched as Robb stood to go after her before sitting down and hanging his head in defeat.

Catelyn knew in that moment that her son would never truly be happy with the Princess Myrcella. The Mallister girl was Robb’s key to happiness, and she and Ned had prevented that happiness.  

Catelyn Stark had made a promise to Jason Mallister after the death of his wife. She had promised that she would keep his daughter safe, give her the mother that the Gods had deprived of her, and to make sure Laena found happiness during her time at Winterfell. Now, years after raising Laena as one of her own and being sure to provide for her all of the things her father had been sure she wouldn’t have in Seagard, she had broken that promise.

Catelyn Stark was an observant woman. She knew that Bran wanted nothing more than to be a knight when he was older and that he looked at Jaime Lannister and his golden armor and white cloak with unabashed admiration. She knew that Arya hated the thought of being a lady of a castle, the wife of a lord, the mother of babes; Arya loved the stories about the Targaryen warrior Queens more than any of the lessons that were needed to be a proper lady. She knew that Sansa looked at Margaery Tyrell with both jealousy and adoration for Sansa longed to be in her place – a future Queen of the Seven Kingdoms - but also wished to be her friend. She knew that Robb’s happiness was a direct result of the love between himself and Laena Mallister.

The days following passed slowly, and Robb and Laena never strayed far from her mind. Even after Bran had fallen and all she could think of was Bran, Bran, Bran, thoughts – or rather regrets – of Robb and Laena remained in the back of her mind.

And then Laena went south and Robb remained in Winterfell, and she told herself that Laena would find love with a southern Lord – or the son of one – while in the capital and Robb would learn to love his betrothed.

But the regret lingered, and it would linger until the day Lord Walder Frey betrayed her son and slit her throat from ear to ear, the last thing she saw before she joined her Gods being Laena and Robb, hovering over her with tears in their eyes, together again.

At least in death she would no longer feel regret for not doing more to ensure their happiness.


End file.
